What a week. With the start of the Cape Pioneer Trek fast approaching everything fell apart. What is up with stuff, be it bio-mechanics or ordinary old machines, that just know when it would the most inconvenient time to go wrong??

You read about my VMO committing suicide in the previous post. Now, about the bike….

A simple brake bleed request snowballed into replacing the rear wheel and freehub bearings. Ridiculous as they were just renewed about a month ago after the Wild Coast tour. Then, on Friday afternoon at 16h30, as I was collecting the bike we noticed that the shock linkage seemed loose. The pressfit bearings (new a month ago) were loose and sliding around. Probably what did the wheel bearings in. So now the linkage had to be replaced. What are the chances of the right replacement part……

To cut a panic story short – Omnico provided a linkage and it was replaced by 18h00. Good grief.

And our team kit was Only sorted at the eleventh hour as well. The Eleven Wise Monkeys ride again!

Eleven Wise Monkeys – the official 2011 kit

One small snag – Bjorn also made Hilana some shorts. Which she reckons are a little too porn star-ish for her liking. Something about the see through white lycra. But they are not too bad really and look pretty hot on the bike. We are bound to have quite a few teams ride with us! Luckily Bjorn is Hilana’s contact so I can claim innocence.

But after all that we had a safe trip through to Oudshoorn. Have registered, checked in and got everything sorted. What lies ahead tomorrow is 107 km through to Calitzdorp. With the odd hill thrown in – about two and a half Table Mountains worth. This is thanks to Katot Meyer.

Oom Katot. “Route director” or “route planner” doesn’t describe what Katot does every year for this race. Katot has a passion for the area and it’s history. So he finds the most amazing paths through these parts, often following old Voortrekker routes. Or perhaps building a new way through a poort. Himself.

Sadly what Katot feels for the area doesn’t seem to extend to mountain bikers. One gets the distinct feeling that he thinks we are a bunch of wusses that complain too much. Besides, we wear shoes. And can one really trust a man (or woman) that has to cover their flimsy feet when you are not even walking?!

Katot Meyer – bare footed route devil